


Close Enough

by dramatic owl (snarky_panda)



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Male-Female Friendship, Prequel, Road Trips, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 18:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18211757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarky_panda/pseuds/dramatic%20owl
Summary: Sam Beckett’s first days at the Starbright Project brought unexpected things into his life, including the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.





	Close Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the fluffbingo challenge on dreamwidth, for the prompt: road trip.

Sam Beckett’s first days at the Starbright Project brought two unexpected things into his life. One was a life-long friend who became like another brother to him. The other was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

He’d been asked to start work on the twenty-seventh of February, but he didn’t know until he arrived that his predecessor hadn’t left yet. After filling out some forms he was directed straight to his assigned office on the second floor. The name plaque on the door still read 'Dr. Donna Y. Elesee' and at first Sam thought maybe they just hadn’t had time to change it yet. A moment later a very flustered-looking – and very pretty, Sam thought – Dr. Donna Y. Elesee came hurrying down the hall, cup of coffee in hand and large tote bag over her shoulder.

“Sorry,” she called out.

She was slightly out of breath when she stopped next to him. 

“Good morning,” Sam began awkwardly. Her morning clearly wasn’t good so far judging from her harried appearance. “I, uh—”

“I’m sorry I’m so late. I wanted to be in before you got here.” She switched the coffee cup to her left hand and held out her right to shake. “You are Dr. Beckett…”

“Yes.” He smiled warmly and shook the hand she’d offered. “Sam. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Elesee. I didn’t realize you were still…they asked me to start today.”

“Donna. They asked me to stay a little longer and help you transition onto the team. I’m here for two more weeks. Come on in. You can leave your coat before I take you on the grand tour.”

He followed her in and watched her move around the office, dropping her tote bag in the corner on the floor next to the coat rack, taking a sip of coffee then setting the cup on the desk, peeling off her coat and hanging it on the rack, taking another sip of coffee and setting it back down, reaching up nervously and smoothing her long dark brown hair. Her outfit wasn’t flamboyant or particularly revealing – calf-length black, grey, and white floral-print skirt, demure long-sleeve grey sweater – but it showed off her figure. She really was quite lovely.

“We’ll mostly be working in and around the lab. We can share the office and the desk. Most of the time when I’m in here I’ll be packing my stuff. Um.” Another sip of coffee, then she gestured with the cup. “Do you want something? There’s a cafeteria in the building. We can stop on the way to the lab.”

Sam shook his head. “Thanks. I had breakfast already.”

“Don’t you want to take off your coat?”

He hadn’t realized he was still wearing it. He hurriedly slipped it off and hung it on the rack next to hers.

Donna gave him a tour of the project and introduced him to everyone that morning. At one o’clock they went out to get lunch and she was horrified to discover he had no sunglasses.

“Sunglasses are a _must_ in this state, Sam.”

Before even discussing where they might eat she led him to a store where she helped him pick out a nice pair of dark sunglasses.

“I know it isn’t very warm now,” she explained as they walked to the restaurant they’d picked out. “But we’re still in the desert and we’re up at a higher altitude.”

“Point taken. I did remember to bring sunscreen.”

In the following days they talked about what the team was working toward and she brought him up to speed on what they’d accomplished so far. Though they had specialized in different areas of physics they were familiar with each other’s academic work, had read each other’s dissertations and subsequent research publications. She’d published a brilliant article on high energy astrophysics and he’d already been thinking after reading it that she might be a great addition to the project, based on his own theories of quantum physics and time travel, that he hoped to build someday soon.

For practical and other reasons she was switching over to the private sector and he was truly sorry he wouldn’t be working with her. She was a superb scientist, he could see that she’d already accomplished a great deal on the project, and she would’ve been a pleasure to work with.

She was also a knockout.

It was completely impractical of him to even entertain the idea of getting romantically involved with Donna when she was moving away. They had a total of two weeks to spend together, and no matter how drawn he felt to her or how much he enjoyed being with her, long distance relationships were difficult and he’d only just met her. So he chose to remain as casual as possible with her.

The problem was their contact wasn’t limited to the working day. They genuinely liked each other and had settled so quickly and easily into a friendship. The members of the team often had lunch together during breaks or went out after work, and he and Donna seemed to naturally wind up paired together whenever the group sat at a table in a restaurant or at the movies or when they all walked down the street.

A road trip to Taos the day before Donna was leaving town inexorably pushed them beyond casual.

~

Donna had already showed him around the city of Española and she suggested that it would be nice for him to see Taos and some of the other nearby towns and sites. They started off very early in the morning in her car, stopped for breakfast north of the city, and were well on their way before nine.

It was just the two of them for this outing. Going on this field trip probably wasn’t the wisest choice he’d made, but he couldn’t bring himself to decline the chance to spend a little more time alone with her before she left. Donna drove and Sam sat in the passenger seat unable to take his eyes off of her.

She shot him several uncomfortable glances before finally demanding, “What?” 

Sam straightened in his seat. “What?”

“You’re staring at me. Do I have crumbs or something on my face from breakfast?”

“Oh. No, no.” He blushed, shook his head. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“Okay. I’d hope you’d let me know if I did.”

“I was wondering. What does the ‘Y’ stand for? It says 'Dr. Donna Y. Elesee' on your name plate.”

She flinched slightly. “Oh. _That_. That was a mistake.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I started working here I saw that everyone was using their middle initial, so I did too. I thought it would seem more professional. I shouldn’t have though—I shouldn’t have conformed.”

Sam gazed at her curiously and she shrugged.

“It’s not an ugly name or anything. But it’s always been my secret. My mother and aunt are the only other people who know it. And my father, I guess, wherever _he_ is.”

“Why do you want to keep it a secret?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“It’s intriguing.”

“More intriguing than your string theory?”

Sam laughed. “No, not more intriguing than that.”

He’d shared his ideas with her on string theory and time travel. She’d been even more receptive to them than he’d hoped and they had already spent hours talking about the possibilities.

“There aren’t too many ‘Y’ names in the English language though. You have to admit it’s a more unusual middle initial.”

“Who said it was an English name?” She pointed and changed the subject. “Velarde is coming up. There are several places to visit along this route, but the church at Velarde is really one of the prettiest.”

They’d lucked out with a mild sunny day that was uncharacteristically warmer for this time of the year. They left their coats in the back seat of the car and visited Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a lovely Spanish-style church, first, then took a leisurely stroll through the village.

“We’re at the Rio Grande Rift, right where the road enters the Rio Grande Gorge.”

“One of the administrative assistants, Jeanette I think, mentioned you’ve traveled a lot around the state since you’ve been here. You certainly know a lot about it.”

“That must’ve been Jeanette,” she laughed. “I have time now. For the first time in my life I’m not both studying and working full time. I’m just working.”

“You worked full time while you went to school full time? That’s a heavy load.”

“Well, I didn’t have one full-time job, but I worked a lot. I went to Lawrence on scholarship, but that only covered tuition. It didn’t pay for books or other living expenses, so I worked at the school’s café, tutored French students from the nearby high school for extra money, picked up other odd jobs when they came along. I was always working when I wasn’t in class or studying.”

“That must’ve been tough.”

“Now it feels strange when I have a moment that isn’t filled with something. I learned to manage my time well. I really had no choice though. I wanted my degree.”

“And you were still number one in your class.”

Donna shrugged. “Lawrence wasn’t as competitive as M.I.T. But I always did well academically. Anyway, weren’t you a teaching assistant when you were undergrad?”

“Yeah, but it was one job and it dovetailed into my studies. That made it a little easier.”

They slowly made their way back to the car and set off again, sharing their experiences at M.I.T. Though Donna had attended a small local college for undergraduate work she’d earned her Ph.D. at M.I.T. too, and like him she’d been a research assistant.

“I can’t believe we never ran into each other. There must’ve been some overlap in the years we were both there.”

“We were definitely there at the same time, but I worked with different professors with a different specialty. You worked with Dr. LoNigro, who I knew of but didn’t have contact with.”

“Still, you’d think we might’ve run into each other. Maybe we did and just didn’t know it.”

Her next comment stunned him. “Trust me, I would never have forgotten you if I’d run into you anywhere.”

The road to Taos followed along the Rio Grande and they had dipped into a canyon now. Donna pointed out the various communities they passed and told him about them.

“I didn’t realize there was so much farmland around here. It’s a beautiful route.”

“Today is just an overview. Once you’re settled in you’ll probably want to take more time on your own in some of the towns along the way. It’s a little less direct, but if it’s not too late when we head home later, we can take the high road back to Santa Fe and Española.”

“This is obviously the low road.”

She glanced at him and grinned. “Obviously. Also called the river road. I like this route better, especially going _to_ Taos. But there are some nice views when you’re traveling back to Santa Fe from Taos on the high road, and nice historic towns along the way.”

Eventually the road they were on climbed out of the canyon and Sam gasped when he caught sight of the view. Donna pulled the car off to the side of the road and stopped.

“You’re looking at the Rio Grande Gorge.” 

“It’s incredible.”

He became aware that she was watching him and turned. She was beaming at him, her dark brown eyes shining with happiness, and his heart sped up at the thought that she was so thoroughly pleased to have shared this spectacular sight with him.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“The view is almost an aerial one,” he said breathlessly.

For a moment their eyes locked. He held his breath, thought about leaning in toward her. Instead he reached out and tentatively touched the sleeve of her sweater. It was a big, bulky lavender pullover that she’d worn with jeans and it looked so soft and pretty on her. All morning he’d wanted to touch it, to stroke its softness then let his fingers travel up and get tangled in her hair.

Donna broke the spell first. “We should get going. There’s a lot to do in Taos.”

She glanced back to where they’d come from, then put the car in drive and pulled back onto the road.

“And there’s another view of the gorge on the way, when we get to the Horseshoe Overlook. Then we’re almost there.”

~

After stopping in Ranchos de Taos to visit the famous San Francisco of Asis Mission Church they drove directly into Taos, stopping at the visitor center to pick up brochures and maps before heading for the historic district. While Donna found a place to park Sam got water and piñons for them to snack on during their walk, since it was still very early for lunch. One of the brochures provided a map and information for a self-guided historic walking tour, which they decided to do. After the first half they looped back to the main plaza and stopped for lunch at a restaurant on one of the side streets that featured specialty dishes of New Mexico.

Donna ordered a lemonade when their waitress came to the table and Sam asked for the same. She seemed happy to keep doing the driving, but he wanted to be able to take over if she got tired or just wanted a break.

“I’m going to miss this area. It’s so beautiful.”

Sam pushed away a twinge of melancholy. “It is.”

He picked up his menu and tried to concentrate on the items listed in the burger section.

“Do you know what you want?” she asked.

“Not yet. I was looking at the burgers, but I’ve already eaten so many green chile burgers in the last two weeks. I feel like I should maybe try something else.”

“Maybe we can share a couple of different things.”

“Sure.”

They’d made up their minds by the time the waitress returned with their lemonades and Sam ordered carne adovada and a tamale platter for them both to share.

“If you have a chance to get out of the city on the weekends, I highly recommend camping out in the desert. There’s no place better than the New Mexico desert to stargaze. You can see every single star in the sky.”

All Sam could think was that stargazing wouldn’t be the same without her. He’d meant to keep that sentiment to himself and didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until he looked up again and saw the expression on her face and the way she’d paused halfway to bringing her drink to her lips.

“What?”

Sam’s cheeks burned but he met her eyes. He had two options: he could pretend he still didn’t realize he’d spoken out loud or he could own up to it and try to remedy the awkwardness. She was too smart to fall for the first. And she deserved his honesty.

“I’m sorry. It just came out. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

He wanted to add that she should just forget he’d said it, but he knew that was impossible so he didn’t bother. He picked up his glass and took gulps of lemonade; something to do besides sit there and fidget awkwardly.

Donna took a sip of her own drink, set it down, leaned in toward him.

“Sam, we’ve only known each other a short time.”

Sam nodded. “Just a couple of weeks—”

“And I’m moving—”

“Almost ninety minutes away. Which isn’t that far—”

“But it’s far enough to make a relationship difficult.”

“Donna, I really had made up my mind that I would let it be, that I’d keep it casual. But then we were spending so much time together—”

“And we’ve become friends—”

“Good friends.”

“Yes.” Her voice was just above a whisper. “Very good friends.”

He reached a hand out toward her tentatively. She took it and they held hands across the table.

“And now I’ve made everything awkward. I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t be sorry.”

“We were having such a nice day.”

“It’s still a nice day, Sam.”

The waitress brought their food at that point and they let go of each other, began shuffling things around on the table to clear space for all the plates. She’d brought two empty plates so they could share both dishes.

“Can we—” Sam began awkwardly when the waitress had walked away. “I know we won’t just forget this, but maybe we can, I don’t know—”

“Acknowledge it, put it to the side to talk about later, and go about our day as planned?”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

“Yes, we can.” She picked up the serving spoons and began to fill the two empty plates with tamales and carne adovada. “It really complicates everything. But in a strange way I’m kind of relieved it’s out in the open now.” 

~

They finished the rest of the historic walking tour after lunch, then they strolled along the trail in one of the town’s parks and talked.

“There’s a phrase in Japanese: _koi no yokan_ ,” Sam told her. “It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s sort of love at second sight. A feeling when you meet someone that maybe you’re not in love with them yet but you know you’re going to fall in love with them.”

“So, a premonition of love.”

He gazed at her meaningfully. “Sort of.”

Sam smiled, about to say something else, something light, then he caught sight of the sadness in her expression, and his heart sank. He was hurting her and she was the last person in the world he wanted to hurt.

He put a hand on her shoulder and drew them both to a stop. “Donna—”

“Sam.” Donna nervously pushed one side of her hair behind her ear. She averted her eyes briefly, but when she faced him again she spoke with sincerity and warmth. “I really do like you a lot. You’re sweet and thoughtful and interesting. And maybe I’ve been giving signals without realizing it, because I’m very attracted to you too. But I’m leaving and that’s a problem—”

“I know. Oh, Donna, I’m sorry. It’s one of my biggest weaknesses. I can’t keep my mouth shut when I should.”

That drew a laugh from her. He took her gently by the arm and led her to one of the benches on the grass away from the trail.

“Come on, why don’t we sit down for a little while and talk this out.”

When they were seated, he slipped a comforting arm around her shoulder. She took a deep breath and continued speaking, her voice calm but resolute.

“I’m starting a new job and I’ll need to prove myself all over again. I’ve already had to do that so many times and it never gets easier. At this point I don’t know if it will be a permanent or even long-term career move, but it’s experience and knowledge I want to get under my belt. And I need my attention and energy focused on that.”

“I know, and I would never want to stand in your way, Donna.”

“And I don’t want to stand in yours,” she replied passionately, lightly touching his chest and emphasizing the ‘yours’. “You’ve started a new job too. You’ll want to make a life here, make friends. You don’t need a distraction from out of town either.”

Sam sighed. “I guess I just wish things were different. That I’d met you at another time. That we were staying in the same place.”

“Now that I’ve met you, I wish things were different too. But that’s not the way it is. And—we have to be…practical…”

She didn’t look or sound convinced, though, and practicality had never been his strong point. Right now he didn’t even want to try to be practical. He just wanted to fold her in his arms and kiss her.

“Maybe,” he began. “Now that we know how we both feel, maybe we can just—maybe we can just…be realistic about it…but have one memorable last day together. And, I mean, who knows, maybe you won’t stay in Albuquerque. Al was telling me that the company has a Santa Fe location too—” 

Donna buried her face in her hands. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Al has _such_ a big mouth.”

“You didn’t want me to know that?”

She dropped her hands into her lap and shook her head. “It’s not that. I just didn’t want to get your hopes up. Or mine.”

“But—”

“Sam, there is no guarantee that they’re going to send me to the Santa Fe location. Nobody has even mentioned it to me.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t keep on. I’ve just never been very good at being practical.”

She laughed wistfully and shook her head again. “Me neither.” 

He turned his face away from her, so she wouldn’t see the hopefulness there, and gazed off into the distance.

“When it comes to relationships, I have a terrible habit of rushing into things then getting scared and regretting it. I don’t want to make the same mistake with you, Sam.”

Sam nodded. This had all happened very fast, even if they both didn’t mean to let it.

They lapsed into silence. His arm was still draped around her shoulders, he’d been absently kneading her sweater where his hand rested, and she hadn’t tried to slip his hand or his arm off or move away from him. Their bodies were angled toward each other and one of her hands lightly rested on his knee. She craved the physical contact just as much as he did.

She glanced up at the sky. “The sun will be setting soon.”

“Oh,” he said, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Did you want to start heading back?”

“We can. Or we can stay for the sunset. Being as we’re already in Taos you should get to see your first Taos sunset.”

She muttered something under her breath. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard the word ‘penny’.

Watching the sunset in Sunset Park seemed just right and he told her he wanted to stay. In short time they were treated to one of the most stunning sunsets he’d ever seen, but Sam only half-mindedly watched as the sky faded from deep blue to brilliant oranges and crimson reds at the horizon. Donna sat quietly by his side, staring at the setting sun, and his gaze continued to drift back to her. He traced her profile, studied the way it stood in relief against the beautiful changing palette around them, the way the shadows shifted and played about her face and hair and neck. Before he knew it, the sun had dipped below the horizon and he was still staring at her and dreaming.

Donna’s lips were only inches away from his when she turned to face him again and his heart raced. He’d been slowly leaning in toward her without realizing it. She lowered her chin and bit her lip, raised her eyes to meet his. Breathless and heart pounding, Sam brought his other arm around her and pulled her into an embrace. His eyes fell closed and he sighed when he felt her arms wrap around him in return. He lowered his head and rested his cheek against her hair, enjoying simply holding her close.

After a time he lifted his head to look at her again, and when she turned her face up towards him, he gently cupped it in one hand and tenderly brushed her lips before covering them with his.

~

They were both quiet once they arrived back in Española. Donna pulled up into the spot next to where Sam had left his car in the project parking lot and shifted into park.

“Did you want to take a little walk or something?” Sam asked, not wanting their time together to be over.

“I’d like to but it’s late and I’ve still got some last-minute packing to do.” Her expression mirrored his own regret and reluctance to part ways. “Well. Good luck here, Sam. I know you’ll do great.”

“Thanks.” He reached out to her and she let him take her hand, not in a handshake but in a tender clasp. “And thank you again for helping with the transition, for showing me around everywhere, especially Taos.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand. He studied her, wanting to remember every detail of her visage.

“Good luck with your new position, Donna. If you—you can call me here any time you want to. You know the direct line. No pressure—I’d just really like to know how you’re doing.”

“Maybe I will once I’m settled in. It would be nice to stay in touch.”

“It would. And Albuquerque really isn’t that far away from here. Not too far for a visit.”

“No,” she agreed softly. “It’s not too far for a visit to a friend. And it is another scenic drive.”

He covered their clasped hands with his free hand and squeezed. He had a powerful intuition that he would be seeing her again soon, that she would, at some point soon be at the Santa Fe location, but he knew he’d just get her frustrated if he said it. So for once he kept his mouth shut.

“Maybe one day soon I’ll get to work with you on your string theory project.”

Sam grinned. “I already had you in mind.”

He unlocked his door and went to open it, then he turned back to her and leaned in to kiss her goodbye.


End file.
